Time to Decorate for the Holidays

Fall is the best time to do Spring cleaning. Why? Because the holidays are coming and with the economy showing no signs of getting better, entertaining at home will become necessary. So its time to make a few changes. Time to fix up your living and dining area right now instead of turning pages of Martha Stewart or Oprah magazines! Those pictures are great - but you are no longer in the burbs.

Planning a party at a restaurant is easy but very expensive so invest the money on a nice table and four dining chairs instead and cater your food from your local grocer if you are having less than a dozen guests. If you have a table that you like but dont love, keep it for now.
But get some new chairs or atleast change that awful fabric of your current chairs. Most reupholsterers are slashing prices in this fiscal crisis, so it pays you to recover those chairs with mark down luxury fabrics which you can get easily from the Lower Eastside fabric places. Go get a quote from a reupholster and you will see how inexpensive it is to redo the chairs this season.

At Greene Street Interiors, reupholstering is done at whole sale costs. A side chair fabric change for a seat  is about $65 - $90. Remaking an entire seat with cushion, webbing etc starts at $90. But really, it is still less than a party platter from a caterers.

If you are shopping around for a table and chairs - skip going modern or ordering manufactured knock down furniture. While the look and budget will feel affordable right now, it is a waste of money since manufactured furniture is never well made nor of solid wood. You will look forward to getting rid of them with your next raise or promotion. One thing for sure, you will definitely not move them to your next home.

Fine antique or high end furniture stores may have fancy window displays, but most have reduced prices to below cost. You can easily get a dining table for four (extendable to six or eight) for the same price like Bloomies or Macys. Invest in four chairs and a table. The whole deal can come in under $5k if you shop smart and are demanding. Before the recession, the price of the same deal would have been at least double. Nothing beats high end or quality bargain shopping.

Our last thoughts, on holiday entertaining - is good food around good company and beautiful furniture is always a winner. Guests wont stop complimenting you and you will look forward to hosting the next party! Stop by Greene Street Interiors during the season and find many treasures for a bargain. Biedermeier, Art Deco and mid Century chairs are a plenty.

Choosing the Right Seating for a Stylish Home

Lately, the economy has forced people who want to redecorate their apartments or homes to rethink about their dilemma. "Should I just postpone the purchase of new furnishings?" or " Maybe this sofa that I found in a basement years ago doesn't look so bad after all?" are questions that are sure to pop up these days, even if one has the money to spend on a chair or two. If you are not talking yourself out off re-decorating, your friends or family surely will.

Some might even try to talk you into accepting their hand me down furniture (thus enabling free space in their own home) as a design choice! Hmm...that was clever!

Not surprisingly, a bad economy is exactly the best time to shop for high end furnishings or luxury items. Especially when you have prolonged your redecorating needs for so long now. Whether you want get some really nice furniture or some nice designer clothes. Look around, and you will see Sale signs on every store window...and if there is none hanging on the store, walk in and feel free to talk business. No serious offer is rejected. These are the days of "Let's make a Deal" - real life of course. And so get that measuring tape out and head for the chic furniture stores all over this great city.

Now back to your dilemma about those ugly chairs crowding your living room. If indeed you have decided to dump them or (give them to your newly arrived co-ed nephew)...do it! Go shopping or at least window shopping right now. Get some ideas from the stores (ask for photos with measurements) and review your space when you come back home. Look look and look again. Versatility and longevity are the magic words. If the budget is right, and the furniture fits - time to redecorate!

At Greene Street Interiors, a gorgeous antique store in Soho (50 Greene Street, NYC) you have tons of options. You can choose between Art Deco arm chairs or bergeres (club chairs for those you not familiar with the term) ; Biedermeier period chairs or some mid century Danish Modern arm chairs which will absolutely remind of you some slick 60s movie. These period furnishings are all easy to mix and match and go very well with any else that is going on in your home.

Try a pair of blonde wood (birch or bleached walnut) chairs if your room is light deprived. If the room gets lots of light or if your floors are light - have the restorers put on a darker finish. Recover them with your own fabric (that is a must since that is called personalizing) and you have a pair of the most gorgeous seating you have ever imagined in your home. If the room is crowded, go for dining arm chairs and recover them with plush fabrics. If you have a bit more space, splurge on a pair of rounded back bergeres that will take you back to the 20s jazz age in a wink.

Now the price tag: arm chairs that were $2000 to $5000 a piece are selling in NYC for about half of that. Antique chairs always retain their value and beauty so go for it if the budget fits...it is the best way to change the look of your living room without costing an arm and a leg (of chair of course!)..